DPLA Press Roundup: October 1-18, 2013
The Digital Public Library of America – A Wonderful Free Resource for Education
“The effect the DPLA will have on American and global education is yet to be seen, but proponents are hopeful that the fact that the knowledge-hungry will now be able to access myriad volumes that would otherwise be locked away in dusty archives will lead to dramatically expanded educational horizons. This means students won’t just be limited to the (often dated) textbooks their school districts can afford to provide, but that, with very little research, they can use computers, tablets, and even smartphones to expose themselves to a richer range of resources and perspectives than was ever before possible.”
From Jessica Oaks’ article on EmergingEdTech, The Digital Public Library of America – A Wonderful Free Resource for Education
Digital Public Library of America
“The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) serves as a portal to the digital collections of more then 40 state, regional, and online-only libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural institutions. Created to strengthen access to public resources and to ‘create novel environments for learning, tools for discovery, and engaging apps,’ the DPLA is an invaluable first stop for teachers and students looking for primary sources, particularly regional history sources. Visitors to the website can search the more than 4,500,000 objects in the collections of participating institutions using keywords, returning results they can filter by format, owning institution, partner, date, language, location, and subject. Clicking on an object brings up detailed metadata, including creator, date of creation, and a description of the object, as well as a link to its original location online. Visitors who create a free account can save their search results, make them private or public, and share them via Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.”
From the history website review of the Digital Public Library of America on TeachingHistory.org
USC is playing a role in Digital Public Library of America
“USC Libraries’ Digital Collections is helping to create the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), which officially launched in April 2013. As described on its website, DPLA ‘brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.’ The effort starts at the state level with the South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL), chosen to be one of seven pilot hubs for DPLA and awarded funding through grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Arcadia Fund in the UK to add content to the DPLA. SCDL, which is funded through the South Carolina State Library, Clemson University, College of Charleston and USC, provides free access to historic materials, such as photographs, manuscripts and objects illustrating the state’s history and culture from more than 40 institutions across the state. More than 200,000 items have been added to SCDL so far. USC Digital Collections has provided more than half of this content.”
From Curtis Rogers’ press release via the South Carolina State Library, USC is playing a role in Digital Public Library of America
Robert Darnton On The Digitization Of Books And The Future Of Libraries And Publishing
“Darnton joins host Jonathan Judaken to discuss the future of libraries, the printed press, and his project – the Digital Public Library of America, or D.P.L.A. – which he hopes will foster a culture of ‘open access’ to help promote the free communication of knowledge and sharing of intellectual wealth in order to create this ‘digital commonwealth.’ Their conversation includes the past and future of books (and eBooks), the public need for libraries, the Enlightenment, and the importance of journalism.”
From the radio segment on WKNO 91.1, Robert Darnton On The Digitization Of Books And The Future Of Libraries And Publishing